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Judge to Oracle: A High Schooler Could Write rangeCheck

Posted by Unknown on from the larry-ellison-sues-every-cs101-student dept.

mikejuk writes with an update on the Oracle vs Google Trial. From the article: "One month into the Oracle v Google trial, Judge William Alsup has revealed that he has, and still does, write code. Will this affect the outcome? I think so! After trying to establish that the nine lines in rangeCheck that were copied saved Google time in getting Android to market the lawyer making the case is interrupted by the judge which indicates he at least does understand how straightforward it would be to program rangeCheck from scratch: 'rangeCheck! All it does is make sure the numbers you're inputting are within a range, and gives them some sort of exceptional treatment. That witness, when he said a high school student could do it — ' And the lawyer reveals he doesn't: 'I'm not an expert on Java — this is my second case on Java, but I'm not an expert, and I probably couldn't program that in six months.' Perhaps every judge should be a coding judge — it must make the law seem a lot simpler..." From yesterday; the Oracle lawyer was attempting to argue that Google profited by stealing rangeCheck since it allowed them to get to market faster than they would have had they wrote it from scratch. Groklaw, continuing its detailed coverage as always, has the motions filed today.

5 of 478 comments (clear)

  1. 5 Seconds by Githaron · · Score: 5, Funny

    From yesterday; the Oracle lawyer was attempting to argue that Google profited by stealing rangeCheck since it allowed them to get to market faster than they would have had they wrote it from scratch.

    Because 5 seconds make all the difference.

    1. Re:5 Seconds by SailorOrion · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, if you are flying at orbital speeds because you have the nose up there, it's about 40km of difference...

    2. Re:5 Seconds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      5 seconds? I'd say 5-10 minutes. Searching for that algorithm probably would take a lot longer than coding it...

      ...you ARE aware who the defendant in this case is, right?

  2. Contest by Chemisor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ok, let's have a contest. Gather a bunch of high schoolers who have some idea how to program in Java, give them the spec for rangeCheck, and see how long it takes them to write it. The winner takes the prize equal to the damages Oracle is asking for. Bonus points if completed in less than 15 minutes.

  3. "I probably couldn't program that in six months." by ibic00 · · Score: 5, Funny

    A truly exceptional lawyer.